Eight.

Bella

“Will you just stop talking!” I snap. I was sick of the questions. Sick of him trying to make me out to be a victim.

“I'm trying to help.”

“I don’t need help!”

“Your father really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

He ignores my growling as he approaches me.

“What did he tell you? That you couldn’t be friends with others? That everyone was an enemy? Because if you believe that your entire life, your life is going to be pretty shit.”

He pulls off his shirt and tosses it into the laundry basket. He was going to hit me, just like my father did.

My father did the same thing when he punished me. The shirt would come off and then he would pull the belt from his jeans. The difference was Aiden was not my father.

“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” I scream at him. “I am not your punch bag and if you try to touch me, I will claw your eyes out.”

His eyes narrow and then widen in confusion, he looks down at his torso. “I’m just changing my shirt.”

He pauses to look at me and silently crosses to the drawers, pulling out another shirt. He quickly pulls it on.

“I’ve seen the things he did to your back, Bella. I can only imagine the other things he did to you. I’m not like that. I have no interest in hurting you. I want to help.”

Help? No one wanted to help. No one offers to help without expecting something in return.

“I can handle it. He is not the first idiot I’ve dealt with.” I keep my eyes locked on him, preparing myself for any sudden movements.

“But you didn’t deal with it, Bella. You let him continue to do that. You let him kill your sisters as you watched. He has you completely brainwashed.”

“I didn’t let…..” I trail off, looking into his grey eyes. Was he right? Did I just watch my sisters die? I was the best fighter around and he made me watch. He made me.... Aiden was right. I did nothing. I let him take their lives while I watched on, playing my own mind games.

Blinking back the tears, I turn away. "I didn't....." I take a deep breath, “If I tell you who my father is, will you pay him a visit?”

“Yes.” He answers without hesitation.

“His name is Alpha William Creedance. He is the Alpha of Black Bay.”

“Alpha William Creedance?” He repeats, cocking a brow at me.

“Don’t recognise the name? Aren’t you supposed to be taking over from your father as King? You should know all the Alph's by name.”

“I do. It's not that I don't know him. He is supposed to be dead. He was sentenced to death almost twenty years ago.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He enslaved a human. Used and abused her. I remember the story well. My mother was so disgusted when she found out, that my father ordered Creedance’s death. Bella, he shouldn’t be alive.”

His eyes linger on mine. “You shouldn’t be alive.”

I couldn’t even disagree with him, because for all I knew, it could have been true. I knew what my father was like. It may have taken me a long time to see it. But at the end of the day, he didn’t care for anyone but himself.

“You’re sisters, you were birthed by the same mother?”

I nod. “But what has that got to do with anything?”

He just stares at me, like he was looking into my soul.

“You’re saying my mother was the human he kept hostage?”

His head bobs.

“I’m a result of……” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It all made sense. The Moon Goddess had punished my older sisters by not giving them mates. I was allowed to be tortured. She had punished us because we were the results of something so vile and sickening.

“I might never get my Wolf.” It was the one thing I was looking forward to. But being a half breed could mean my Wolf never comes forward. I drop on to the bed. Both Grace and Darcy had their Wolves. They were smaller than the average Wolf, but I had never questioned it until now. I had just assumed it was because they were weak. They weren't like me.

“You smell like a Wolf.” He was just trying to keep me calm

“It doesn’t mean I will get to shift!”

I start pacing. Trying to wrap my head around the information.

“How is he still alive, Aiden? How did my father avoid a death sentence?”

“I don’t know.”

“You must know something.”

He shakes his head at me. “Let me make a few calls.”

I sit on the bed, staring at him as he speaks to his father. He talks angrily and while he was on the phone, Leighton makes his way in. His dark eyes hover on me for a second.

“Is it true? You’re Creedances kid?”

“I’m not a kid.” I snap at him

His eyes flash to Aiden’s and Aiden nods his head. He slams down the phone.

“My father’s old Beta was supposed to have killed him?” Aiden mutters

“Why didn’t he do it?” Leighton asks

“I don’t know. We know he had issues after everything. My father should not have kept him on for so long.”

“What did he do?” I ask, trying to follow their cryptic conversation.

“Linc was my father’s Beta. He was turned.”

“Turned? You mean killed?”

They both shake their heads at me.

“He became a vampire.” Leighton mutters when Aiden doesn't say anything.

“Your father had a vampire as a Beta?”

“He was his Beta before he was changed. He became blood thirsty as expected. Killed a lot of people. But after five years, he walked away with nothing more than the clothes on his back and no one has seen him since.” Aiden shakes his head and turns to Leighton. “This doesn’t make sense, why would Linc leave him?”

Leighton shrugs his shoulders. “What did your father say?”

“He didn’t. But he is angry.”

“This doesn’t change anything, right?” I ask. “You said you would pay him a visit. You will still help me kill him, right?”

They exchange looks.

“No!” I shook my head, I knew that look. It’s the one father gave me when he wanted me to bring home someone alive. “You're going to keep him alive until you have answers, aren’t you?”

“Linc isn't around for us to get answers from him.” Aiden sighs, “You will get your chance Bella, but until I have spoken to him, you need to stay here. He can’t know that I have you in my care.”

“This is ridiculous. You said he is supposed to be dead, so just kill him.”

Aiden steps towards me with a smile. “Just think of it this way. Me being there will be torture for him. He knows that he shouldn’t be alive. He knows that we have figured out that he somehow managed to slip under the radar."

He looks at Leighton with a smile. “Bella, he will be expecting us to kill him. He will be prepared, probably ready to put up a fight. It will be like torture too him. Don’t you think after everything he has put you through, a little bit of torture is a good starting point?”

Torture was exactly what I would have done. Yet, I wasn’t sure why I expected it not to be Aidens.

Slowly, I nod my head. But I wasn’t going to be there to witness it.

“One condition.” I mutter. “When it’s time, you let me finish him off.”

He stares deep into my eyes. Deciding on his options.

“Deal.”

I tell them everything. Where my fathers pack is based. Who the Beta is, the guards. Everything that I can think of. I don’t let either of them get a word in.

When I’m done, I smile at the thought of my father finally getting everything he deserved.

Looking up, both of them were staring at me.

“Bella, you’ve hardly said anything about him until now.” Aiden mutters, studying me.

“I want him dead.”

“You have made that very clear.” He turns to Leighton. “We leave in an hour. Bella, you are to stay with Halle.”

“Can’t I just stay here on my own?” I didn’t want or need anymore attention from anyone and I certainly didn't want a stuck up babysitter.

“You could, but the question is, will you actually stay here?”

I nod my head. As much as I hated it. I knew my presence would screw everything up. And I would need to agree to Aiden's rules if he was going to let me kill my father.

“Good.” Leighton smiles at me. “Because I’m pretty sure your future mate will be pissed if anything happens to you.”

Mate???